College football rankings with bowl-game twist

Rankman and SportsBusiness Journal have teamed up for a first-they-have-heard-about-it collaboration based on SBJ's seventh annual analysis of bowl gifts provided to players. This year's most popular gift is the Fossil watch, provided at 19 of the 35 bowls. USC is too lousy at 7-5 to crack Rankman's top 25, but part of the Trojans' Sun Bowl gift package will include a Helen of Troy hair dryer. Meineke Car Care participants from Minnesota and Texas Tech will receive a 32-inch flat screen, a belt buckle, T-shirt, lapel pin and backpack. This bowl bounty proves college players are already highly compensated and should never ask again to share in the profits of a multibillion dollar industry.

Chris Dufresne

December 5, 2012